Combined press release:
High Hopes And Hot Temperatures Await At Misano
The eighth round of the 2009 World Superbike Championship should offer Broc Parkes and Jamie Hacking real opportunities after such a positive combined performance in the USA last time out.
Despite good fortune deserting him in race two at his home track of Miller Motorsports Park last month, stand-in rider Hacking’s seventh place in race one was a season best for the official Kawasaki Superbike team.
In America regular rider Broc Parkes showed he could compete at the highest level again after recovering from his big crash in testing a couple of months ago. With even more time to heal and get fit since then he is raring to go, while Hacking is looking forward to his first WSB experience outside of the USA.
Hacking is once more deputising for the injured Makoto Tamada, who is still fighting to overcome the result of the hand injury he suffered at Monza on May. ‘Hacker’, as he is known to his friends and fans, will also ride for the team at the subsequent Donington round.
The 4.226km long Misano World Circuit, the arrival at which marks the start of the second half of the 2009 WSB season, is a notoriously hot venue in June, with track and air temperatures usually some of the highest the riders have to endure all season. Nonetheless, this race is a popular one, not least because of the location of the racetrack, close to the cooling waters of the Adriatic, and the many holiday resorts that line the coast. With the Donington WSB race weekend coming up only a few days after Misano, there will be few chances to relax, however, before the team has to reform close to its home base in England.
Broc Parkes:
“I’m feeling much fitter in myself after a few weeks’ break so I’m really looking forward to the Misano race. We left Miller feeling positive despite the results not really reflecting our bike development - just due to some bad luck - but we know that the bike is getting better and better, and our qualifying and race pace times are up there. I think the whole team is looking forward to some solid point scoring finishes and hopefully we can break back in to the top ten.”
Jamie Hacking:
“I’m delighted that the team has asked to me to fill for Makoto at both the Misano and Donington races. I’m really looking forward to racing the bike again and working with the Kawasaki WSB team. I was hoping we could finish top ten in both races at Miller but events in race two didn’t go our way, so I’m really looking forward to pushing myself to my full potential on the bike in Misano. I don’t know the track but I’m confident that we can have some really decent results over the next few races.”
Adriatic Appointment for Fujiwara and Lascorz
After some impressive results in the first half of the season for the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and its riders Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara, Misano is the next chance to shine.
Lascorz will be out to get his prized first Kawasaki win to add to the first pole position he earned last time out at Miller Motorsports Park. For Fujiwara his first podium on the Ninja ZX-6R will be the goal. Having already started a race from the first row this season, and taken a top five race result immediately afterwards, he knows a strong qualifying performance will help his cause - particularly at such a tight and twisty circuit as Misano.
Kawasaki machinery has powered to victory at Misano in the past and with the latest developments in the overall technical package to work with in Italy, the team is keen to continue making the forward progress it has demonstrated all season.
Joan Lascorz:
“We made improvements in our suspension set-up in the last races and now, after America, we will have more developments with the engine set-up. We hope there will be a further improvement because the new bike has been good already, but that just raises our expectations all the time. I need to qualify well and then make a good start in Misano, to make sure I get away with the other top riders.”
Katsuaki Fujiwara:
“I know Misano very well, the old layouts and the newer one. The hot track temperatures are a normal part of racing there at this time of year and our suspension was working well at the last race. We know more about the bike every time we go on the track. We should have taken another step forward with the machine when we get to Italy.”
